Corroded Spirits

Corroded Spirits: 8

Chapter 8: Irksome Adjustment

 "I'm coming in, Inoue-chan." Retsu announced. Without the reply of the person inside the room, Retsu opened the door and let herself in. 

"Oh.. S-sorry for not responding, Unohana-san." Orihime said as she stood up from her place at the floor. 

Retsu smiled warmly and shaked it off. Orihime reluctantly took her table from the wall and set it in place for Retsu to put the tray of food she was holding on it. "Thank you." Retsu said as she and Orihime both sat down.

 Instead of letting her prepare the meal, Orihime reached out and started preparing the food herself. Retsu could only watch the girl in astonishment. It had only been a day, and already her improvement was stellar. 

Retsu's eyes never left the girl, even as she began to eat her food. "The food is delicious." Orihime stated with a smile, but her tone was quite flat and dull.

 "So how are you today, Inoue-san?" Retsu asked slowly, planning on executing her session step by step so as to not regress the poor girl's condition.

 Orihime hummed as she chewed on her rice. "Fine.. But a little tired." She said after swallowing. Retsu nodded. 

"Well, that's because you haven't been up and about for a while now." Retsu replied. 

"Maybe.." Orihime mumbled, toying with a few rice grains before stuffing them into her mouth. 

Retsu, thinking not to ask another question just yet, looked down to Orihime's plate and suddenly quirked a brow. Despite the fact that Orihime had already eaten a few spoonfuls, her meal barely decreased in amount. 

"Are you not hungry, Orihime-san?" Retsu asked carefully.

 Orihime made a quiet sigh as she put her chopsticks down. With a little difficulty, Orihime shook her head. "Hmm.." Retsu looked at Orihime a while longer. "That's all right."

 Retsu then proceeded to clean Orihime's meal, but said girl, quickly did it for her instead. 

"It's okay. I can do it." Orihime said reassuringly. 

Deciding to go with the girl's words, Retsu sat back, and let  the girl clean up instead. When the meal was cleared, Retsu took it and set it aside from the table. Now she looked at Orihime eye-to-eye. "Now, since we still have some spare time.. Why don't we, have a little talk?" Retsu looked carefully to see if Orihime's face would falter at the idea of having a conversation, but much to her dismay, the ginger-haired girl's face remained passive.

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 "What's taking her so long?" Toshiro asked aloud, remembering that he still had a bucket load of paperwork to finish by the afternoon. Just as he said so, the door to the waiting room opened and Retsu stepped out with the tray balanced on one hand while the other closed the door behind her.

 "How was it?" Ukitake asked quickly. Retsu sighed as she handed the tray to a nearby squad member and waited for him to leave the room before sitting  in place along with the waiting captains. "Not much.." Retsu said, trying to collect her cool.

 "We're not making any progress... The Commander expects us to report to him by this week, and we have nothing to show for it.." Byakuya said, quite troubled. 

"This is really starting to bother me..." Retsu said. 

"How so?" Ukitake asked.

 His old friend side-eyed him. "For some reason, her attitude and demeanor seem duller." 

Toshiro's eyes lightened. "You noticed it, too?" He asked. "She's being cooperative, but it almost feels wrong." Toshiro added further. 

"Wrong in a sense that she seems restrained? Like she's forcing herself to cooperate?" Byakuya said, astute as ever.

 A dark silence overcame the four Captains, as they mulled over their half- thought up theories. "What would these observations even mean? It only seems to just make things more confusing." Retsu said with a sigh.

 It's the first time in a long time Ukitake has seen her showed such distress, only leading him to ponder more about the condition the red-haired girl currently inside the 4th Division barracks, and how they could get her to get back to her 'old self'. 

"We shouldn't let ourselves get too preoccupied with half-true theories.. For the meantime, we should just finish this week's session and then report to the Commander. Depending on his response will be to our report, then we'll decide what to do." Toshiro said quickly.

 Ukitake chuckled quietly to himself and nodded. "You are right." He said.

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 "I'm sorry.." Orihime sighed, hugging her knees tighter against her chest.

 "Don't be." Ulquiorra said, staring out into the window, even when there wasn't anything to see in the black of night.

 "I'll do better tomorrow." Orihime said as some sort of after-thought. 

"You don't have to try so hard." Ulquiorra quickly quipped as he turned from the window to face her. "I knew it would be hard for you from the start... So stop pushing yourself." 

 When Orihime lifted her head from her knees, Ulquiorra locked gazes with her.

"In a week, it will be time for them to report to the Commander." He stated. He didn't mean for anything to be hidden under his words, but Orihime seemed to still sense it. 

"I have to do better.. So that the Commander won't become suspiscious about me.. Just like you said." Orihime stated firmly. 

Ulquiorra sighed inwardly as the girl repeated his own words. "You're as steadfast as ever." He said. Orihime managed to smile at that. She stood up from her place and walked over to where Ulquiorra stood.

 She put a hand up, as if about to place it against the back of his shoulder. When Ulquiorra turned a bit, Orihime froze her hand, and decided against it. "You can touch me if you want to." Ulquiorra said quietly, his green eyes glinting in the darkness.

 "But if I do, you'll leave." Orihime said, her own eyes glistening, but with the exception of tears in them. 

"Why would you cry over such little things?" Ulquiorra asked, taking one hand out from his pocket, and brushing the back against Orihime's cheek. "Besides, I will have to leave anyway.. It's inevitable." Ulquiorra said, almost sadly.

 Orihime gave a small whimper and brought down a hard lump in her throat to prevent another. "Good night, Ulquiorra." Orihime said, finally deciding to bring her arms up and wrapping them around Ulquiorra. 

She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, then turned her head to plant a soft kiss against it. Orihime could feel Ulquiorra sigh at the contact. "Good night, Orihime." Ulquiorra whispered back, lowering his head so it would brush against Orihime's cheek. 

Her breath shuddered upon realizing what he was doing, and tightened her hold around him.

 The two stayed where they were for a few moments longer, with Orihime's arms around the pale Arrancar. She stood there, rooted to her spot, until her arms weren't even around anything anymore. 

Now they were just hanging in mid-air, in a circle loop, with a gap the size of the man that would fit in there, had he been there anyway. Letting out another whimper, Orihime withdrew her arms, and now wrapped them against herself.

 As she stared down at the spot where Ulquiorra had been standing seconds ago, her face suddenly went from softly fragile, to stoicly emotionless. "I have to make sure they don't find out about us." Orihime whispered darkly into the room. 

There was no reply, but only the usual smothering dark pressure of Reiatsu, that only the girl could feel comfortable with.